Scoot, the budget long-haul unit of Singapore Airlines, had its inaugural flight arrive in Sydney on Tuesday morning—but not before the plane ran into a technical glitch while still on the ground in Singapore, leading to a 100-minute delay.

Though Scoot’s passengers, who are paying almost 40% less than what they would on a full-service carrier, may forgive the fledgling airline, the incident certainly wasn’t what management had in mind for its first day, and it has already set tongues wagging on social-media websites.

Indeed, the airline had to suffer insults from passengers who published tweets and Facebook messages while still onboard, including one who wrote: “Bit of a mess here as Scoot gets up its inaugural flight, to Sydney,” adding, “check-in was a nightmare.” Other people who weren’t on the plane posted critical messages, including one who described the situation via Twitter as “just way too embarrassing.” Another wrote: “How ironic. Scoot sent a mass email saying they’d left Changi Airport but in fact gone tech” – an industry term for a technical fault – “and were delayed for 1.5 hours.”

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The plane, originally scheduled to leave Singapore at 11:25 p.m. Monday night, had to return to the boarding bay a few minutes after pulling away from Terminal 2 of Changi Airport.

“This was due to a technical delay but compounded by an ill passenger on board who needed to be offloaded. Time was also spent offloading her luggage,” said a company spokeswoman. The plane did make up some time en route, landing in Sydney an hour behind schedule.

Scoot’s glitch wasn’t the first time a new budget airline ran into maiden-day trouble. In 2004, the first-ever flight of the Thailand affiliate of budget powerhouse AirAsia had to reverse course back to Bangkok instead of flying to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai because of a technical problem related to a malfunctioning gauge. The incident was a big embarrassment for the carrier since the inaugural flight was packed with VIPs and reporters, though it quickly righted itself and AirAsia has thrived.

AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes poked fun at Scoot earlier this year, saying it had “a really dumb name” and predicting it would have a hard time competing with AirAsia’s long-haul affiliate, which he said had a “tremendous” first-mover advantage in the region.

Scoot maintained its composure on Tuesday, announcing Tokyo and Taipei as new destinations from the third quarter of this year in a press release issued after the inaugural flight landed in Sydney.

Despite the lampooning for the inaugural flight having “gone tech,” passengers on board praised the airline’s service staff. The more than 400 passengers on board the flight were offered complimentary cookies and beverages, something that’s normally available only by paying extra on budget flights.

Scoot, with its bright yellow livery and claims of promoting “Scootitude” among passengers, is doing everything it can to build an image that contrasts the serious business-like reputation of Singapore Airlines.

However, the airline will likely want to quickly shed any impressions that it can’t match its parent’s famed efficiency and service quality.

About Southeast Asia Real Time

Indonesia Real Time provides analysis and insight into the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. Contact the editors at SEAsia@wsj.com.

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